It’s spring, the perfect time to freshen up your home décor. It’s also a perfect time to refresh your home décor and be eco-friendly at the same time.
Nowadays, thinking and acting sustainably is something we need to cultivate more and teach our children to do so as well for the sake of our planet. What a better place to start living a healthy and eco-friendly lifestyle than in our own homes.
Here are some of the simplest eco-friendly ways to refresh your décor without breaking your bank.
1. Thoroughly cleaned or sustainable rugs
If you’re trying to refresh your home on a budget, you’ll want to save as much money as possible. A good way to save is to rethink whether your rugs and carpets are really past saving or if there is some way to prolong their life.
Rugs and carpets are known to get really dirty over time. Unbelievable amounts of dust, debris, dirt, and so much more get into your carpet no matter how often you vacuum it.
Sometimes instead of getting rid of a perfectly good rug, you can simply deep clean it. If you aren’t sure, consult with professional carpet cleaners. They will be able to tell you if it’s worth cleaning the carpet or if you can go looking for a new one.
In case you’re looking to splurge out on new rugs and still stay eco-friendly, try looking for sustainable rugs. Sustainable rugs are usually made of eco-friendly materials such as jute, recycled plastic, or seagrass.
2. Upcycle, repurpose and reupholster
Throwing away furniture creates waste, and then you end up wasting money on new furniture. There is no need to throw away furniture that you no longer like when you can easily repurpose or upcycle it.
You can easily revamp any piece of furniture and in most cases, it doesn’t even require much work. Repaint your old furniture, reupholster it, update it, repurpose it – you have tons of options.
On the other hand, if you really hate your current furniture and want to get rid of it, instead of throwing it away – donate it. You may hate it, but someone may find it useful.
3. Add easy decorative details
We all have that one piece of furniture that is so comfortable and we love it so much that we have a hard time parting with it. If one such furniture piece is your sofa – you don’t have to part with it yet.
There are some easy and effective tricks that can make your old sofa look brand new. One of those tricks includes freshening it up with new throws and pillows. Both throw blankets and pillows add decorative touches to your room and also brighten up your worn-out sofa.
Curtains are another example of an easy yet effective detail that can change the feel of the whole room. When choosing curtains, try going for thermal ones. Thermal curtains will help you reduce your energy bills and save you some money. You can combine these curtains with any other of your choice.
Another good detail and a very nice decorative piece are candles. Not only do they smell good, but they also add to the ambience of your home. Source candles that are made of natural materials such as beeswax and soy combined with beautiful sents of essential oils. Create a perfect atmosphere in your home.
It’s those small decorative details that can impact the whole house and make all the difference.
4. Play with lighting
Lighting is another thing that greatly impacts the ambience of your home. If you’re looking for an effective way to refresh your interior, you can experiment with lighting. Plus, changing your current lighting to something more sustainable will certainly help the environment.
You can replace all your current light switches with smart ones or opt to install dimmers for certain lights. Dimmers are used to lower the intensity of the light output so you can easily control the light brightness in any room you want.
It should also be mentioned that light dimmers are energy efficient as they reduce the flow of electricity to the bulb. Dimmers also increase the life span of your bulbs.
5. House plants
If you want to follow the latest décor trends, investing in house plants is the way to go. One of the easiest and most affordable ways to refresh your home décor is by decorating your home with plants and flowers.
Not only will your home look prettier but you’ll be breathing cleaner air as well. Plants are natural air purifiers and clean air means a better and healthier life.
There are many different plants that you can decorate your home with. From those easy to maintain to more complex ones. Whatever you choose, know that plants do wonders for your home décor.
6. Change the wall colour
Yet another easy but effective decorating trick – paint your walls. A change of wall colour can make a significant difference in any room.
However, if you’re going to paint your rooms or install new wallpapers, make sure you do it right using zero- or low-volatile organic compound-emission paints or adhesives. Low-VOC paints don’t contaminate the air and thus you won’t have respiratory problems, headaches, dizziness, and so on.
Similarly, if you opt for wallpapers, make sure you use eco-friendly wallpapers made of recycled paper and VOC-free inks.
Refreshing your home décor has never been easier. It doesn’t require much money and all you need to know are a couple of tricks that can completely change the look and feel of your home. On top of all that, all of these tricks and tips are eco-friendly and sustainable. Just imagine how much cleaner our planet would be if we all did our part to live more sustainably.
Author Bio:
Jasmine Anderson is a Sydney based lifestyle blogger and a toddler mom. She loves to spend quality time with her family, go thrifting, and spend just a little bit too much time on the internet.
Photo by Luisa Brimble on Unsplash,
Josh Hemsley on Unsplash,
